In the preparation of a large bird for sale it is standard to cut the bird up after slaughter into several pieces. With a turkey the bird is cleaned by removing the viscera and then rinsing the animal. Then it is hung from a conveyor chain which moves it through a plurality of stations at which pieces are cut off it, it is deboned, and so on. Clearly this process requires a substantial amount of manual work and has the considerable disadvantage that the quality of the end product depends directly on the abilities of the people doing the various steps. Furthermore a normally significant amount of meat is left hanging on the body or lodged in cavities thereof.
Once the appendages--the wings of a bird, the fins of a fish, the limbs of a lamb, beef, or pig carcass--have been removed it is necessary to separate the meat from the bone. This must be done so as to recover the largest possible pieces of meat while leaving the smallest amount on the bone or cartilage. In addition this process must be carried out at the highest possible speed, and with the smallest possible risk of injury to the worker.
While chain-type saws have been suggested to automate this procedure in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,422,216 and 4,793,232, the operations still remains fairly difficult.
Objects of the Invention
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for separating a soft material, typically meat, from a hard material, typically bone or cartilage.
Another object is the provision of such an improved apparatus for separating a meat from bone or cartilage which overcomes the above-given disadvantages, that is which largely mechanizes this operation while still leaving it fairly safe.
A further object is to provide an improved method of separating meat from an animal body, whether this is a bird, a fish, or any other meat animal.